Summary: Novella length magical realism where you are not supposed to know what is going on for quite a while.
I read The Queen of Ebenezer about three years ago when it first came out. If you want a review without spoilers, I would read that original one. I have been trying to read more fiction this year, I wanted to revisit this one to see if I thought my daughter was ready for it and the publisher, Owl’s Nest, has been expanding their audiobooks. So I picked this up on sale a couple weeks ago and listened to it in two sittings.
The audiobook is well done. A clear narration with good production values that communicated the feel of the book exactly as it should be narrated.
And now to the spoilers.
This is a story about memory and regret. I will be honest that I had forgotten the ending. The book is about how Beatrice awakes in a swamp. She knows it is a magical swamp and that Tom, the king of the swamp, isn’t quite right. Her knowledge that she is in a magical world, but can’t remember before, is made more salient because she knows something isn’t right.
A young adult/middle grade reader may not pick up on all the clues, but as someone that had previously read it and knew the rough shape of the story, there are a lot of clues as to what is going on. But it also draws heavily on the magical. Again, this is a significant spoiler, but Beatrice and Tom were in a car accident. Death is searching for Tom. Beatrice was unconscious, but not near death as Tom is.
Part of what is revealed is the role that Beatrice played, not just as the girlfriend, but as the cause of the harm. So there is guilt and grief. I do think that some of the teenage rebellion that led to accident is a bit cardboard, but the point isn’t the rebellion, but the discovery of love and the desire to protect. Young adults have big feelings. And there needs to be places to explore those big feelings. And this is a great fictional exploration of the ways that big feelings matter, and that there can be consequences of rash decisions.
The Queen of Ebenezer by K.B. Hoyle Purchase Links: Paperback, Kindle Edition, Audible.com Audiobook